I'm Just Getting Started Podcast

In this episode (and the accompanying essay), we take an unlikely teacher seriously: DoorDash . What looks like a simple food delivery app turns out to be a surprisingly clear window into how modern work actually functions — expectations, incentives, invisibility, and all. Using DoorDash as a metaphor, this piece explores how work gets fragmented, optimized, gamified, and sometimes dehumanized — a...

In this episode (and accompanying essay), we explore one of the most underrated leadership skills: the ability to say “I don’t know.” In a culture that often equates leadership with certainty, confidence, and having the answers, admitting uncertainty can feel risky — even unprofessional. But in practice, leaders who can say “I don’t know” often build more trust, stronger teams, and better decision...

In this episode (and the accompanying essay), we explore one of the most overlooked leadership tools available — a single, simple word that costs nothing and changes everything: please . Somewhere along the way, professionalism convinced us that politeness was optional, efficiency was king, and authority didn’t need courtesy. But the absence of “please” has consequences — especially in environment...

In this episode (and the full essay), we dive into the complicated dance between trust and loyalty in the workplace — a relationship that has shaped American work culture for decades, and a relationship that has unraveled just as quickly. Leaders often want loyalty before they offer trust. Employees often want trust before they can offer loyalty. And somewhere in the middle, both sides wait for th...

In this episode (and the full essay), we explore Daniel Pink’s “FedEx Day” concept — reimagined as the far more realistic, leader-friendly FedEx Hour . Because most of us can’t disappear for a whole day to chase a creative idea… but almost everyone can give themselves one hour a week. One hour to deliver something new. One hour to create instead of react. One hour where your brain is free from cri...

In this episode (and the full essay), we rethink productivity by shifting the focus from time management to energy management — a distinction that changes everything for supervisors and teams. Time is fixed. Energy is renewable. And a supervisor’s energy sets the temperature of the entire workplace. Drawing on real-world leadership experience (and the hard-won lessons of weeks where the tank hits...

In this episode (and the full essay), we explore the restorative, grounding, energizing impact of doing good — especially when life and work feel heavy. I share why community service isn’t just noble or altruistic; it’s a deeply practical strategy for sustaining ourselves as leaders, employees, and human beings. Drawing from my monthly volunteer trips with students to the local food bank — sorting...

In this episode (and the full essay), we look at a parenting pattern that shows up far more often than people admit — something I’ve witnessed firsthand across 30 years of working with students and families: help addiction . This is the dynamic where a parent’s identity becomes tied to being indispensable. Not just helpful — needed . And over time, it stops being support and starts becoming a kind...

In this episode (and the companion essay), I explore the surprisingly profound leadership lessons hidden inside something as ordinary — and occasionally infuriating — as the daily commute. What starts as a slow crawl through traffic becomes a reminder about emotional pacing, patience, and the difference between reacting and responding. I talk about why patience is theoretically one of my strengths...

In this episode (and the accompanying Substack essay), we explore one of the strangest and most emotionally complicated workplace truths: sometimes the people are amazing… and the place is not. I dig into the tension of working alongside talented, kind, mission-driven colleagues inside systems that are dysfunctional, stagnant, or misaligned with your values. We talk about why it’s so easy to confu...

In this episode (and companion Substack article), we dive into one of the most misunderstood parts of modern leadership: how to give critique in a way that actually builds resilience instead of breaking confidence. I introduce the 12:1 Sugar-to-S**t Ratio — a tongue-in-cheek but research-backed approach to feedback that works especially well with younger employees who are still building their prof...